Manifolding



C. W. BRENN MANIFOLDING Jul 29, 1952 Filed Jan. 29, 1949 attorneys Patented July 29, 1952 MANIFOLDING Carl W. Brenn, Montclair, N. J assignor to Autographic Register Company, Hoboken, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application January 29, 1949, Serial'No. 73,5 19

This invention relates to manifolding material and to methods for making the same; and, more particularly to collated sets of record strips or sheets, and transfer or carbon strips or sheets, and the methods by which they are assembled and connected.

Heretofore it has been proposed to manufacture manifolding sets by the interleaving of continuous stransfer or carbon strips with continuous record strips and to secure the same together along one margin. The continuous superposed and attached strips were then collected by zigzag folding the same, or form lengths were chopped from the end thereof to provide lndividua1 sets of sheets. Sets of the type with which my invention is concerned are usually made using record strips which have superposed longitudinal weakening lines defining one margin, and the strips are all secured together and to thecarbons within the space of these margins. This marginal area of the strip or set is generally known as the stub or binding margin.

In use, after a set has been fed through and written upon by a machine designed to handle and write the same, the written set is normally separated into sheets having a length of one form, usually by tearing the same on transverse weakening lines. Such an individual set whether originally produced as such or separated from continuous strips, is designed for simultaneous removal of all transfer sheets from the record sheets by merely tearing the record sheets along their longitudinal lines of weakening, the stub sheets to permit grasping of all record sheets and simultaneous separation thereof from the carbons.

The stub or binding margin of the set is frequently punched to provide openings for engagement with complimentary feed devices either for registering and feeding the strips during manufacture, or for suitably feeding a continuous set during subsequent use, or both.

An object of the invention is to provide carboninterleaved forms, either individual or continuous, which will be so constructed that their manufacture from record strips and carbon strips may be conducted without the necessity for processing the carbon strips to punch or perforate the same and to provide a suitable method for thus constructing such manifolding sets.

This is accomplished according to the present invention by supplying to the collating machine 2 Claims. (01. 252-115) rolls of record strips and rolls of carbon strips attaching each carbon strip to an adjacent record strip bringing all the record strips into registration and securing them thus by means of the binding margins and then simultaneously transversely perforating all the strips between forms. Thus, according to the present invention carbon strips which are merely cut to widths and wound to form rolls may be used in making the manifolding sets, and the operation of transversely perforating the record stripsprior to collation is obviated.

The feature of the present invention of attaching each carbon strip to an adjacent record strip before it is collated and stapled permits the saving of carbon sheet material where the binding and feeding margins of the record strips are wide, since it is not necessary as was the case heretofore to catch the edges of the carbon strip by the legs of the staple. Where the binding and feeding margins of the record strips are narrow the transversely disposed staples usually used will penetrate the carbon strip but this is merely incidental for the carbon is already secured to the binding margin of its associated record strip.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a plan of a continuous manifolding set in accordance with my invention, certain elements thereof being broken-away or folded back to illustrate the construction.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which'the records and carbons are adhered, and the records assembled, registered, stapled and divided.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic elevation showing record strips and carbon strips being led from individual supply rolls, adhered, and guided together in the collating machine.

f The manifolding sets of my invention are preferably made up of continuous alternating record strips 10 and carbon strips II. for use in continuous form each record strip Ill has a succession of printed forms [2 bounded by parallel transverse weakening lines l3. Corresponding weakening lines l3 in the carbon strips ll register with the weakening lines l3 so that an individual manifolding set may be separated from the continuous strip set when desired by tearing along said lines. Each record strip also has a longitudinal line of weakening 14 adjacent one edge and defining a binding margin l5 cooperating with the margins I5 of other record strips to form the stub or binding margin of the When prepared strips and ultimately of the sets. The margins I5 of the record strips are provided with rows of equally spaced holes I6 for registering and feeding purposes.

According to the present invention, each record strip I0 has attached thereto a carbon strip II, save only the top or bottom record strip, depending; upon which surfaces of the record strips have the carbon stripsattached thereto. In the form shown, each carbon strip I I is attached by an adhesive application I! to the overlying rec'- ord strip II) with its carbon face I8 away from said record strip. In this case the bottom record strip III of the stack would. fail to carry a carbon strip II.

If the carbon strips I I were.- instead each connected to the underlying record strip I0: with its carbon face towards the record strip, the.

, 4 presser rolls 3B which assist in adhering the strips I II and I I together. The adhered strips pass over guides 38 and converge into adjacent superposed relation to be brought into registration and receive further operations.

In the form shown the strips pass under a common guide upon a collating table 42. The strips are fed across the collating table by the intermittent motion of a registeringand feeding head 44 connected by link 56 with a suitable drive so arranged that it Will withdraw the pins 48 from the openings I6, retract the head 44 a distance equal to the length of one form I2, re engage the pins 68 with other openings I6 thereby urgingthe forms into exact registry, and feed the strips, forward simultaneously one forms topmost record strip should then have no carbon strip attached. The longitudinally extending ad.-

hesive applications II are arranged so as to lie only in the margins I5 of strips II! and occupy positions transversely inwardly of the holes I6. The carbon strips II are so superposed on the record strips that one edge of each carbon strip lies within the margin I5 of the record strips II] but falls short ofthe row of holes I6. To facilitate carbonstripping, the carbon strip is preferably made narrower than the record strip so that its free lateral edge lies inwardly of the adjacent edge of the record strips leaving margin IBthereof. exposedbeyond the carbonstrips. Preferably the margin Ila on carbon strip II which. overlaps the record strip margin I5 is clean, or free of carbon, and especially when it is desired to adhere the carbon strips to the underlying record strips;

The superposed strips are held together by means of staples'or other suitable fasteners 28 passing through the margins I5. The staples 20 preferably are positioned transversely of the strips and are positioned, approximately midway between adjacent holes I6 to avoid conflict therewith and with feeding and registering devices extending through said holes. Preferably the legs of thestaples 20 extend through preformed holes 2I in the record strips.

According to the present invention, in order to reduce the cost of manufacture ofthe manifolding sets as above-described, they are produced without the necessity of providing feed-control holes in the carbon strip, also without the necessity of providing the: transverse form-delineating perforations I3 in the carbon strips until they are collated with the record strips. Thus there is eliminated the necessity of prepunching the carbon strips and the latter may be furnished to thecollating machine as manufacturedor as it comes in rolls from the slitting and rewinding machine when the strip is-made from. a wide web.

Likewise, the record stripbeing without trans-. verse perforationsis supplied to the collating machine in roll form.

The manner of assembling the manifolding set of my invention is illustrated in. Figs, 2 and 3 vw-hereinthe-record strips II] are withdrawn. from roller 34 which places thereon the adhesive application I! which, may be inthe form of a, continuous stripe Each carbon strip II is then pressed into engagement with the overlying recordstrip' III as the two pass between a pair of length, and continuously repeat this cycle of motions.

Adjacent one edge of the table 42 is positioned a fastener applying device, preferably a stapling head 50 which applies simultaneously a pair of staples 29 to each set of forms in turn. The stapling head 58 is preferably actuated by the same driving mechanism as the link Q6 and its operation is so timed as to precede the withdrawal of the pins 48 and return movement of the link 46 and thus engage the strips while, they are stationary and in registration.

The staples 29 are driven through the marginal portions I5 of the superposed record strips. Depending upon the relative size and disposition of the staples and the width of margins IS, a portion or, all of staples 29 may pass through the adhered carbon margins IIa as well as through the margins I5 of record sheets II]. With the type of staple disposition shown, the inner leg of each staple 20 will often pierce the records and the carbons when the margins 15 are narrow, but with wider margins I5 as shown in Fig. 1 the staples 20 will entirely avoid the carbon margins IIa.

As shown in Fig. 2, preformed openings 2 I are formed in the record strips for receiving the staples 20 which are slightly larger than the diameter of the legs of the staples 2! so as to prevent the record strips II] from being too tightly clamped by the staples 28 and permit the slight relative movement necessary to prevent buckling when the form lengths are being zigzag folded to form a pile,

The last station on the collating table 42 is occupiedlby a perforating head 5i which partially cuts the stripstranversely between forms to provide transverse weakening lines I3, I3 passing simultaneously through all of the record elements I0 and-carbon elements of the set.. The perforating head BI is driven by the same driving mechanism as the link 46 and is preferably timed to transversely weaken the strips at the time that the operation of the stapling head 50 occurs. It will be readily appreciated that in cases where desired, individual forms rather than a continuous set may be produced by substituting a chopping device for the perforating head 5|.

As each section of the continuous manifold set is completedby stapling and cross perforating, the same passes from the edge of the collating table 42 and falls to-the top of a zigzag pile 52 in which form the continuous sets are collected.

While the drawing illustrates the preferred form in which the adhesive stripes are applied to the record strips, it willrbe appreciated that the; stripes of I adhesive material Il may be placed upon either the record strips or carbon strips as convenient.

Thus it can be seen that I have invented an improved manifold set and method for making the same wherein each carbon sheet or strip is adhered to one record sheet or strip within the binding margin thereof, the record sheets or strips then being bound together by a fastener applying device operating in coordination with the registering and feeding of said record strips.

Likewise, important advantages result from the above-described method of collating and assembling record and carbon strips to form a continuous pack. Paramount among these is the fact that carbon strip material H can be taken directly in roll form 3| as it comes from the manufacturer or slitter and can be fed into collated relationship with record strips I without the necessity for preprocessing of the carbon or the provision of any feeding or registering openings therein, the feeding of the carbon being fully controlled by the adhered relation of strips I I to the record strips I0. Furthermore, the final simultaneous cross perforation of all superposed strips as by perforator 5| eliminates the necessity of cross perforating of the record strips l0.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A continuous snap-out manifolding set comprising a pile of record strips and interleaved transfer strips, each of said record strips having a longitudinally extending weakening line defining a margin thereof, and at least one thereof having a series of forms printed thereon to read or to be filled in to read on lines running transversely of the strip, said transfer strips each being adhered near one edge to one only of said record strips and solely in the margin thereof, and having its opposite edge spaced inwardly from the opposite edge of the record strips, said record strip margins having aligned openings therein; and staples passing freely through said openings and binding said record strips loosely together, said pile having transverse weakened lines at form length intervals and being folded zigzag fashion on said weakening lines for convenient storage.

2. A continuous manifolding set comprising a pile of record strips each having a longitudinally extending weakening line defining a binding margin; transfer strips interleaved with said record strips, said transfer strips each having its edge inset from those edges of the adjacent record strips which are nearest said lines and being adhered to one only of said record strips solely within the binding margin thereof, said binding margins having preformed openings therein in the free area beyond said transfer strip edges,

each strip having a pair arranged crosswise of the strip, and staples passing freely through said openings, extending crosswise of the strip, and

connecting together said binding margins, said pile having transverse weakened lines at form length intervals and being zigzag folded on said weakening lines for convenient storage.

CARL W. BRENN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,362,231 Cooper Dec. 14, 1920 1,400,631 Smith Dec. 20, 1921 2,100,776 Fulk Nov. 30, 1937 2,106,165 Brenn Jan. 25, 1938 2,213,157 Brenn Aug. 27, 1940 2,260,601 Brenn Oct. 28, 1941 2,328,081 Johnston Aug. 31, 1943 2,420,660 Falter May 20, 1947 

